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Got Your Food Supply?

Strive for a month's worth of food to sock away for an emergency or bad times.

Bug Out Bag for Pets

It is important to not overlook our pets in our survival planning. This includes setting up bug out bags for them. Face it, they can’t do it themselves. Lacking thumbs, zippers and buttons on packs are like bank vault doors to you and I.

The first thing to consider is a safe way to transport your pet. For larger dogs, this entails a good leash, collar, and muzzle. While you might not feel you need to muzzle your dog, many shelters that allow pets do require it for safety reasons. Smaller pets should have crates in addition to the leashes and muzzles.

The second thing is a complete copy of your pets immunization records. This is vital if you find yourself needing to use a public emergency shelter.

Your pet bug out bag should contain a few days worth of food as well as a dish to put it in. If your pet normally eats mostly kibble, just put it in ziplock bags. Wet food should be kept in the cans and if the cans aren’t the pull tab type, be sure to include a manual can opener.

A water bottle separate from your own is a great idea and you should include a small dish to pour it into for your pets. Most pets have difficulty drinking direct from a bottle.

Include a few empty plastic shopping bags or other similar type bags for cleaning up accidents and messes. A small roll of paper towel would be welcome too, for the same purpose.

Your pets will also appreciate a few treats as well as a familiar toy or chew bone.

While you should have a first aid kit in your own bug out bag, be sure to include any medications your pets normally take in the pet BOB. Also toss in a small pair of scissors to remove burrs and debris from their fur.

Published by

Jim Cobb

Jim Cobb has been a student of survivalism and emergency preparedness for almost thirty years. As a young child, he drove his parents nuts with stockpiling supplies in the basement every time he heard there was a tornado watch in his area. Of course, being a child, those supplies consisted of his teddy bear, a few blankets and pillows, and random canned goods he grabbed from the kitchen cabinets. Later, he was the first (and likely only) child in his fifth grade class to have bought his very own copy of Life After Doomsday by Bruce Clayton.
Today, he is a freelance writer whose work has been published in national magazines such as Boy’s Life and Complete Survivalist Magazine. He is a voracious reader with a keen interest in all stories with post-apocalyptic settings. He maintains the Library at the End of the World blog and is also the Content Director for SurvivalWeekly.com. He currently resides in a fortified bunker in the upper Midwest, accompanied by his lovely wife and their three adolescent Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Jim's first book, Prepper's Home Defense, was published late 2012 and his second book, tentatively titled The Prepper's Complete Guide to Disaster Readiness, will be out in mid-2013, both coming from Ulysses Press.
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